Modern Family: The Complete Fourth Season

One can’t say too much that hasn’t been said about the hit comedy "Modern Family." This highly celebrated one-camera sitcom has been wowing TV audiences since its premiere in 2009. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD comes "Modern Family: The Complete Fourth Season" from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. This 3 disc Blu-ray set contains all 24 Season Four episodes, as well some extras to be enjoyed by fans of the show.

LGBT audiences are no stranger to the crazy antics of couple Cameron "Cam" Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) and his Partner Mitchell Pritchett (out actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Now adopted parents for 5 years, and together in love for 10 years, their characters shine as they reap the benefits of the daily challenges of gay daddies raising their adoptive daughter Lilly (the adorable Aubrey Anderson-Emmons). In Season Four, Cam and Mitch move on with their lives after choosing not to adopt a second time; venture into new career paths when a "slimming down" Cam starts his new job as a music teacher; and cope with Lilly’s jealousy over which daddy is her favorite.

Highlight episodes include "A Slight At The Opera," when Manny (Rico Rodriguez) steps in as Phantom of the Opera at the school play; guest star appearances by Matthew Broderick as Cam’s friend Dave, ending up on a "Mystery Date" with Phil Dunphy (played by the ever-hilarious Ty Burrell); and the insightful episode "Best Men," guest starring Elizabeth Banks as Mitchell and Cam’s wedding-on-a-whim best friend with cold feet.

"The Blu-ray set has extras provided on each disc -- some deliver the funny, while some others fall flat."

The Blu-ray set has extras provided on each disc -- some deliver the funny, while some others fall flat. The best extras include the cast’s Season Four gag reel; Writer/Producer commentary on four episodes, including "Fulgencio" a brilliant homage to Coppola’s "The Godfather" series; and the Featurettes "A Day With Eric" (a video narrative behind the scenes of a day of taping on the "Modern Family" set) and "Modern Family Writers" (interviews with various writers and producers). This extra is highlighted by an interview with Andrew Higginbotham, explaining the inspiration for much of Cam and Mitchell’s more-topical subjects like legal marriage and age discrimination as gay men in their forties.

"Modern Family: The Complete Fourth Season" has a nice feature that will allow the viewer to watch each episode back-to-back, without pause, and even begin at your stop point if your play is stopped mid binge-watching. Viewers be warned, though. Blu-ray sets from 20th Century Home Entertainment have notorious technical issues. Because of never-ending warnings, studio credits, prompts, trailers, and blank screen pauses, my discs took a whole four minutes to go from hitting "play" until the disc menu appeared on-screen. I’ve experienced this with other Fox Home Entertainment season sets, and "Modern Family: The Complete Fourth Season" is no exception.

"Modern Family" has been showered with countless awards, including recently winning the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. Also, "Modern Family" was nominated four times for the GLAAD Media Awards’ Outstanding Comedy Series category, taking the prize in 2011 and 2012. All in all, "Modern Family: The Complete Fourth Season" will be a great addition to your TV Blu-ray or DVD library to share with your "Modern Family" of choice.